I've only seen this shrub offered by Prides Corner Farms, a wholesale nursery in CT. The plants I saw this summer were pretty nice. As it's also grafted like plain 'Contorta', I imagine its dimensions will be similar.

I'm interested in this one, too. I see that Wayside Gardens has it listed in its spring catalog (available online). Dan

Yes , I have 3 . I planted one last Feb. and dug it up in late June after the Japanese beatles hammered it . Boy , it looked like crap . I was thinking of planting one today . You can get 2-3' for around $130 in this vicinity . I think 8-10' . Sure would look good next to something blue .

Since summer isn't the best season for twisted hazels, I'm not sure purple foliage would help. They seem very prone to insect damage of one kind or another (leaf-rollers here.
My regular twisted hazel is over 10' high and shows no signs of stopping - it's a bit wider than high. A very satisfactory plant right now when it is hung with catkins and used by the birds as a landing platform. I have it underplanted with hardy cyclamen that like dry shade in the summer.

Im getting one this fall from wayside gardens.
Can't wait!!

If the new one has reddish catkins that will add a feature. And you can still use the color of the purplish foliage, even if rumpled like 'Contorta' (seems like leaves of small ones I have seen out here already were less deformed). It will, of course, conceal the contorted stems in summer, same as with 'Contorta'.

For a purple foliage nut like me this is just the perfect plant. I planted one in early spring and I just love it. Mine came from a CT nursery. Like most purple leaf plants the foliage color does fade a bit to a greenish purple but new growth keeps coming so you always have color. Japanese beetles are generally not a problem for me but they did chomp a few leaves. Hand picking kept the damage to a minimum. I'm looking forward to the winter interest that the catkins and branching structure will provide. So far it appears to be a winner.

Sue

my experience the same as vtskiers.great purple on the new growth.
mindy

Saw some more recently, that makes three local garden centers that have had it already - and I know about those from stumbling upon the plants, not from doing an intentional survey. These last ones were less than 3 ft. high and $150.00 each. Pretty much intermediate between corkscrew and purpleleaf in characteristics. Only newest leaves a serious purple at this point in the season.

Are they very slow growing?

Don't look to be.

ornata, here in z.5 new eng. they are not incredibly fast growing by any means. med growth rate for me.
best,
mindy

I am curious if the Red Majestic cultivar is a victim of the eastern filbert blight. I have owned two corylus avellana contorta that were not Red Majestic and both succumbed to the fungus and died. I have since observed evidence of this disease on almost every corylus avellana contorta that I have seen grown in southern Connecticut.

Has anyone else had any success in avoiding this disease in their ornamental filberts? The only contorted filbert I saw that did not have this disease was in a wooded relatively shady location and probably was protected from the North winds by other bushes and trees.

I`ve tried the contorta version and do you want bad nightmares. As much as I like this plant it is grafted generally. The plant which it is grafted in another corylus and the number of suckers that sends up can be a virtual nightmare. In one year the suckers can grow taller than the house and there my be 50 of them. That is something for you to consider. There are other plants that are contorted and other plants that are purple. I like the grace selection of Smoke tree. It has the traits of American tree and the European. that is just a suggestion.

wow, lots to look out for. I did end up finding one late last summer & it is now going through it's first winter. It is only about 3 feet high right now so I'll see how it grows next year. I'm a little worried about the suckering thing! so will watch. I know I used to have to watch for straight "strays" on my green contorta at our old home & cut them off when needed. Here's hoping it works!

Grafted 'Contorta' I have seen were either on the quite arborescent Corylus colurna or a shrubby hazel with a purple blotch in the middle of a green leaf. (There is a supposedly rare one with this characteristic that I have seen a name for but since the one I've seen seems rather common I'm not sure this same name should be used for it).

Cutting-raised 'Contorta' are also available. Eastern filbert blight does seem to be a pretty big deal, Oregon State University has been selecting and releasing resistant nut cultivars. If susceptible then maybe the contorted ones will eventually fall by the wayside.

Can this be grown in a large container?

Just an update, I did put one in. In it's first full year (last year) it did put up a couple greenish shoots I cut them back to below the dirt in spring, didn't see any more, will check again this spring. Japanese beetle didn't bother it (although they had enough food with my purple sandcherries). Mind you mine gets afternoon shade so that may have helped. I can't wait to see what happens this year now that it has an established root system.

Sharon

Hi, Sharon! Just wondering how much your tree has grown since Feb of last year (was 3 feet high then). I'm thinking of getting one. Thanks!

Buy this cultivar on its own root stock only. Monrovia has it in production on own root stock and any nursery in your area that sells Monrovia plants should be able to get it for you. When grown on its own root stock, this tree is a healthy and long-lived specimen with virtually none of the problems listed above (including blight).

They are slow growers to 8'- 10' high by equal width. When young, they grow straight up but will droop with time, so don't top them off! I have 2 in my garden and they are spectacular.

You could plant them in a container, but it needs to be HUGE so that the plant isn't stressed when it becomes root bound. Because these are long-lived trees when properly maintained, you might consider an in-ground installation with the proper soil PH and nutrients. Once mature, the twisted branches and spring catkins are a sight to behold. It would be a shame to lose a mature plant because of container confinement.

Happy planting...AA

I want a feature plant in the centre of a lawn to the side of my house. I was thinking of planting 3 young specimens about 18inches apart in a triangle with a spotlight on them. Eventually the branches would entangle. I am interested in what anyone else would think of this idea.

How does grafting affect blight resistance in this cultivar?

Awhile back I was going to buy one at a local outlet but I noticed all the stock in that batch had a canker-like condition.

The other day I looked at some at another place in one gallon pots for $27.50. I might have got one except I noticed these were showing the same 'Forest Pansy' (redbud) pattern of the leaves going greenish after being open not all that long that I had observed on other stock. And we've had a mostly cool and dull spring this year.

I bought one this Spring in a 2-3 gallon pot. I planted it in a large (10-15 gallon) fired clay pot that sits on my front eastern facing deck. It leafed out beautifully, but soon many of the leaves were showing brown crisp edges and would fall off easily. I don't think I'm over or under watering it. I usually check it once a week. I looked for cankers or spots, but haven't found any. Has anyone else had this problem or heard of it?

Anne0, how were/are you checking for watering needs, and how much water were you giving? It may be that the water wasn't getting all the way to the bottom of the pot; i.e.; did water run out the bottom in a manner that implied it had soaked through the soil? It can happen, as a pot/plant becomes root-bound, that the water runs out straight away, but doesn't soak the soil. This can also happen if the potting soil has a lot of peat, etc., in the mix and that dries out - it takes a LOT of soaking for it to re-wet.

It is also possible that it needs more frequent watering, especially in a sunny area. I water large pots 2-4 times a week, depending on heat, sun or shade, and wind - and as the potted plant gets older, I have to water the larger root mass more often.

While it MAY be that you were/are over-watering, the symptoms make me think that the plant needs more water rather than less. Unfortunately, the symptoms for over-watering are much the same as for under-watering, so you have to look at the soil, and maybe try increasing or decreasing the amount and frequency of watering to fine-tune things.

I purchased a red majestic and planted it about 3 weeks ago. The leaves are budding out red, but quickly turn to a dark, almost emerald green!!! Is this common? suggestions? explanations? thanks!

Does this plant take full sun? SOme site suggest some pm shade ---
This is an older post but has some great information. Wonder if anyone would be able to comment on how theirs is growing Mike

I just snapped up two of these- fairly big ones too, all of 5 ft.tall with great looking extended contorted "arms" at Lowe's. The tags say, part sun, AM sunlight only, semi-moist, medium growth rate, average height ten to 12 feet. Any other advice? Spray for blight or beetles?

I planted a Red Majestic in Fall of 2008. It was about 2 1/2 feet tall and maybe 18" wide. It is now close to 4 feet tall and wide. Not a fast grower but steady. I have mine planted in full all day sun. While the leaves tend to green up some in the later half of summer they still retain a fair amount of purple. Plus it is always putting out new leaves that are very deep purple. It makes a lovely contrast. I water mine quite alot since it is surrounded with hosta. I don't have any trouble (knock on wood) with insects, but that could just be where I live we don't get the beetles mentioned above. I don't know. It did throw out 3 suckers this year. But even if it does eventually send out a hugh number of suckers this plant, IMO, is worth the trouble of cutting them off.

Alexis

home depot $20...5feet high

I just purchased 2 of these. Both have bright green leaves sprouting from the bottom. Are these "suckers" that should be pruned or new growth. I'm new to gardening and probably shouldn't have started with these but I really loved them. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Yep, those are suckers. Prune them out.

$20 for a five foot tall specimen? Here they'd go for $80-90. I bought an all green version this year. Always wanted one. Would like a red leaved one one of these days, too.

Karen

Good information from all of you writing here. I was curious if anyone could post a few photos? I ordered a Red Dragon, supposedly similar to Red Majestic. There are so few photos of either on the internet...most are very close up. I can't get an idea of what how it looks as it matures, It's described as a shrub and also as a small tree with a trunk. Is it as twisted as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick or less so?

Ahh just found an excellent photo by https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/corylus-avellana-red-dragon that shows Red Dragon.

Wow, fun to see this old thread come up. I no longer live in the same place I did in 2006 but my Red Majestic only lasted a few years then went into decline. I eventually removed it. My new property is much larger and I've only been gardening here for two years so there is still plenty of room :).. I'll have to give Red Dragon a try.

I read in this thread that "anne0" wondered if anyone had problems with her leaves turning brown. I too have that problem. Just random leaves in various locations on the stems. It's in the ground but I'm thinking that the soil has a lot of mulch mixed in where I in it and not staying moist enough? Any one have any input? Is it a disease?